Apparatus for applying sizing and other coatings



R. A. RUSCA APPARATUS FOR APPLYING SIZING AND OTHER COATINGS Filed Aug.5, 1949 2 Sheets-Shet 1 IF. Illllllll. III II I l \VINVENTOR.

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ug. 21 1951 R. A. RUSCA 2,564 7 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING SIZING AND OTHERCOATINGS Filed Aug. 5, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. R. A.RUSCA R? BYATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 21, 1951 API AR/ATUS FOR APPLYING SIZING ANDOTHER COATINGS Ralph A. Rusca, New Orleans, La., assignor to the iUnited States of America as represented by the Secretary of AgricultureApplication August 5, 1949, Serial No. 108,836

2 Claims. (01. 28-28) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, asamended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) This application is made underthe act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act of April 30, 1928. andthe invention herein described, if patented in any country, may bemanufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States ofAmerica for governmental purposes throughout the world without thepayment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to an apparatus for coating or impregnatingsheets, webs, or strands with sizing, polymerizable solutions orsuspensions, and other coatings. It particularly relates to a size boxfor use in conjunction with the apparatus and method for drying textilewarps described in an application filed by Ralph A. Rusca and George J.Kyame.

The customary apparatus for sizing and drying textile warps consists of(l) a creel to support the section beams, (2) a size box for applyingthe starch solution to the yarns, (3) a dryer for evaporating themoisture from the impregnated yarns, and (4) a means for winding thedried yarn on a beam.

The slasher creel carries a number of section beams, each of which iswound with a plurality of yarn strands laid side by side in parallelalignnient. The yarn strands are unreeled simultaneously from allsection beams in a single sheet called the warp. The warp is guided intothe size bath via an immersion roll and then over two size rolls whichare more than half submerged in the bath. Mounted above each size rollis a heavy cloth-covered and weighted squeeze roll. These squeeze rollssubject the warp to a kneading action which increases the penetration ofthe size into the yarns and removes all excess size. The sized warp isthen dried by means of a steamheated cylinder dryer, or by means of ahot-air dryer. on leaving the dryer, the warp is separated into severalsheets, as many as there are section beams supplying the yarn, by meansof split rods, also called leese rods. This is done to separate thoseadjacent yarns which are stuck together with dried size. The separatedsheets are reunited, passed through an expansion comb, and rewound on abeam. The purpose of the expansion comb is to appropriately distributethe warp yarns uniformly across the width of the beam and at the sametime'maintain their parallel alignment.

There are a number of disadvantages inherentin the methods and apparatusused heretofore. In the sizing operation. the amount of size applied tothe warp and the degree of penetration therein are both difficult tocontrol because of the fixed depth to which the warp is immersed in thesize bath. Furthermore, to make effective the action of the squeezerolls in increasing said penetration, it becomes necessary to have anexcess of size present at the point of application of pressure. Toaccomplish this, the size rolls are partially submerged in the bath sothat in turning they pick up and carry an excess of size to the zone ofkneading action. Also, squeeze roll pressures conducive to effectivekneading action are lower than those required for eflicient removal ofexcess size from the warp. Therefore, while size penetration may beincreased through regulation of squeeze roll pressure, it is found thateffective kneading action is usually accompanied by inefficient removalof excess size. The partially submerged size rolls are always positivelydriven by means of their shafts, which extend through the side walls ofthe size box. This method requires the use of stufling boxes to preventleakage of size around the shafts, with the well known problems ofmaintenance of the stufling box glands. The usual size box is ratherlarge and box-like in shape and, with only three rolls in the box, thereremains a considerable amount of unused space which must be filled withsize, thereby adding to the difficulty of maintaining constant agitationand circulation of the contents. In the bottom of said size box isusually placed a coiled copper steam pipe, perforated with small holesto emit live steam into the size solution. The purpose of this is tomaintain the temperature of the size solution in the box, and to assistin agitating the size and preventing its stagnation and stratificationin the box. This continual flow of steam dilutes the size solutionthereby adversely afl'ecting the quality of the slashed warp.

To overcome these faults, this invention embodies the followingfeatures.

The size box is equipped with an immersion roll having a motor-drivenmeans for regulating depth of immersion. The two size rolls are ofunequal diameters and are driven at the same surface speed. Thisarrangement affords better control over size penetration and excess sizeremoval in that, by regulating the level of size in the box so that itcontacts only the larger diameter roll, this roll may be used forkneading the size into the warp, while the smaller diameter roll is usedsolely for removing the excess size. Or, if so desired, the size levelmay be raised to such height that the box functions in the same manneras in the prior art. A novel form of bearing mount and drive for thesize rolls obviates 3 7 going through the size box walls and eliminatesthe stufllng boxes and their attendant problems. The size box iscontoured to fit closely to the immersion and size rolls, therebyreducing the overall volume and increasing the agitation and circulation of the contents.

The drawings disclose one embodiment of my invention.

Figure 1 is a vertical view of the size box.

Figure 2 is a top view.

Figure 3 is a section on line 2-4 of Figure 2.

The size box I is supported by a suitable structural framework 2. Anouter sheet-metal covering 3 and inner covering ill attached to the sameframework enclose a layer of insulating material 4, such as mineralwool, rock wool, or asbestos. Mounted atop framework 2, alongside thedeeper end of box I, is an idler roll 5 which guides the warp 15 as itenters the size box. An immersion roll 6 is suspended in the deep end ofsize box I by means of two threaded rods I. Said immersion roll 6rotates in suitable bearings 8 held in blocks 9 which are fixedlyattached to the end of threaded rods I. Blocks 9 are restrained againstlateral motion by guides I and the side walls of box I. Verticaldisplacement and positioning of immersion roll 6 is governed by rotationof worm gear II. The latter has a threaded bore I II into which rod Ithreads. Gear II is rotatably mounted in a housing I2 and is driven byworm I3, which is rigidly mounted on shaft I4. Shaft I4 is rotatablymounted in bearings I5 and is driven through pulley I6 by means of motorI, having suitable controls.

Suspended in the shallow portion of the size box are two size rolls I1and I8 respectively. Said size rolls are rotatably mounted in specialhanger mountings I9 and 20, and operate in journal bearings 2| made ofself-lubricating or water lubricating materials such as lignum-vitae,plastic, and the like. Size rolls I1 and I8 differ in diameter but aredriven at the same peripheral speed by sprockets 22 and 23, which have ateeth ratio equal to the ratio of the respective size roll diameters.Sprockets 22 and 23 are linked with sprocket 24 and receive their motivepower therefrom by a chain 25. Sprocket 24 is mounted on one end ofjackshaft 26, which is rotatably supported in pillow blocks 21. On theother end of shaft 26 is mounted sprocket 28, which is driven bysprocket 29 through chain Ill. Sprocket 29 is mounted on countershaftII, which rotates in pillow blocks 32. Countershaft II receives itsmotive power through sprocket 83, which is driven by suitable means notshown. Mounted directly above and in contact with size rolls I! and I Iare two cloth-covered metal squeeze rolls Ill and I8I respectively. Bothsqueeze rolls are the same in diameter and are loaded by springs, I90and HI by means of hand wheels 2", or by any other suitable means, suchas weighted levers, or hydraulic, or pneumatic pistons. A drain pipe 24attached to the lowermost part of size box I is used to draw oil thefluid contents of the box when necessary.

In operation, all warp yarns are unreeled simulis passed between rollsI1 and Ill and then be tween rolls I8 and I 8|. Size roll I1 is largerin diameter than size roll I8. By suitably adjusting the level of sizein size box I, size roll I! may be practically submerged in the bathwhile roll I8 still rides clear. This arrangement allows roll pair I!and III to be used solely for kneading size into the warp therebyachieving maximum size penetration; coacting roll pair I8 and Ill removeall excess size from the surface of the warp. If conventional sizingaction is desired, it is necessary only to raise the level of the sizeuntil both rolls I1 and I8 are partially submerged therein.

The size box is formed to fit closely to the various rolls it contains.This design results in considerable reduction in the volume of sizerequired to fill the box, and movement of the warp and rotation of therolls therein insures adequate agitation and circulation of the size.Thus, the need for live steam with its detrimental dilution of the sizebath is done away with insofar as agitation of the size is concerned.The temperature of the size bath may be maintained by any of theconventional methods, such as steam coils, steam jacket, and electricheaters. However. I prefer to use the method described by me in aco-pending patent application, Serial No. 64,068, filed December 8,1948, now Patent No. 2,516,884, entitled Method of and Apparatus for thePreparation and Distribution of Sizing Materials.

taneously from the section beams on the slasher creel and passed in asingle sheet I5 over idler roll 5 and into the size bath via immersionroll I. The depth of immersion of the warp into the size bath isdetermined by the location of immersion roll 6 therein. The latter maybe positioned by energizing the motor to drive pulley I6 in thedirection necessary to raise or lower rods I Having thus described myinvention, I claim:

1. A size box comprising a housing adapted to contain a body of liquid,the housing having a deep end and a shallow end, a submersible roll inthe deep end mounted transversely of the housing and mounted for raisingand lowering therein, two size rolls in the shallow end mountedtransversely of the housing, the contour of the bottom of the housing inthe shallow end following adjacent a side and bottom of one size rolland the bottom of the second size roll, the second size roll beingadjacent the inlet of the shallow end, the contour of the housing in thedeep end following adjacent the submersible roll in its fully loweredposition, the diameter of each size roll being sufliciently large tofill the major part of the depth of the housing in the shallow part andasqueeze roll mounted above each of the two size rolls, the shallow endbeing provided by raising the bottom of the housing toward one end. thesize rolls being mounted adjacent the top of the housing above the levelof the submersible roll in its fully lowered position.

2. A size box comprising a housing adapted to I contain a body ofliquid, the housing having a deep part and a shallow part, the bottom ofthe housing being raised and sloping upwardly toward one end to providethe shallow part, a submersible roll in the deep part mountedtransversely of the housing and mounted for raising and loweringtherein, a large size roll mounted transversely of the housing in theshallow part adjacent the inlet of the shallow part, a squeeze rollmounted above the large size roll, the diameter of the large size rollbeing such as to fill the major part of the liquid depth of the housingat that point, a smaller size roll mounted transversely of the housingin the shallow part and adjacent the side of the housing and filling themajor part of the liquid depth of the housing at that point, the loweredge of the smaller size roll being above the lower edge of the largersize roll, a second squeeze roll mounted above the as desired. Fromimmersion roll 6, the warp I5 smaller size roll, means for driving thetwo size 8 rolls at the same surface speed, the two sifie rolls and thesubmersible roll being supported by suspending means mounted above theliquid level, the two size rolls being above the level of thesubmersible roll in its fully lowered position, the contour of thebottom of the housing in the shallow end following adjacent a side andbottom of the smaller size roll, and adjacent the bottom of the secondsize roll, the contour of the housing in the deep end following adjacentthe subinersible roll in its full lowered position, whereby the need foragitating means is obviated, the movement of the material that is beingimpregnated and the rotation of the rolls insuring adequate agitationand circulation of liquid.

RALPH A. RUSCA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,628,261 McGann May 10, 19271,788,196 Johnson Jan. 6, 1931 1,996,810 Iler Apr. 9, 1935 1,997,926Franks Apr. 16, 1935 2,108,189 Batchelder Feb. 15, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 11,013 Great Britain July 14, 1894 339,884

Great Britain Dec. 18, 1930

